Mcneil River State Game Sanctuary Annual Management Report 2014
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Special Areas Management Report ADF&G/DWC/SAMR-2017-3 McNeil River State Game Sanctuary Annual Management Report 2014 Thomas M. Griffin Edward W. Weiss ©2014 ADF&G, photo by Thomas M. Griffin 2017 Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Wildlife Conservation Special Areas Management Report ADF&G/DWC/SAMR-2017-3 McNeil River State Game Sanctuary Annual Management Report 2014 Thomas M. Griffin Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Wildlife Conservation 333 Raspberry Road Anchorage, Alaska 99518-1565 Edward W. Weiss Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Wildlife Conservation 333 Raspberry Road Anchorage, Alaska 99518-1565 ©2017 Alaska Department of Fish and Game PREPARED BY: Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Wildlife Conservation 333 Raspberry Road Anchorage, AK 99518-1565 The State of Alaska’s wildlife refuges, sanctuaries, and critical habitat areas are managed cooperatively by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (Divisions of Habitat and Wildlife Conservation) and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. The McNeil River public use and viewing program, and its publications, are managed by the Lands and Refuges Program at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Wildlife Conservation. Funding comes from appropriations made by the Alaska legislature and program receipts deposited to the State of Alaska’s Fish and Game Fund. Special areas management reports address management activities and goals within specific refuges, critical habitat areas, and sanctuaries managed by the division. The special areas management reports are intended for biologists or other technical professionals, as well as to inform the general public about the special areas. This publication was reviewed and approved for publication by Joe Meehan, Lands and Refuges Program Coordinator. Special areas management reports are available from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Wildlife Conservation, PO Box 115526, Juneau, AK 99811-5526; phone (907) 465-4190; email: [email protected]; website: www.adfg.alaska.gov. The report may also be accessed through most libraries, via interlibrary loan from the Alaska State Library or the Alaska Resources Library and Information Service (www.arlis.org). This document was published electronic only and should be cited as: Griffin, T. M., and E. W. Weiss. 2017. McNeil River State Game Sanctuary annual management report 2014. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Special Areas Management Report ADF&G/DWC/SAMR-2017-3, Juneau. The State of Alaska is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Contact the Division of Wildlife Conservation, Lands and Refuges Program, 333 Raspberry Road, Anchorage, AK 99518- 1565; email: [email protected]; or telephone: (907) 267-2257 for questions or alternative formats of this publication. Product names used in this publication are included for completeness but do not constitute product endorsement. Cover Photo: Brown bear (Ursus arctos) maternal female with 2 cubs of year at McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, Alaska. ©2014 ADF&G, photo by Thomas M. Griffin. Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... iii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Wildlife ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Brown Bear Monitoring Program ............................................................................................... 2 Index Counts ............................................................................................................................ 2 Individual Counts .................................................................................................................... 4 Bear Use Days ......................................................................................................................... 7 Sex and Age Composition ....................................................................................................... 7 Bear Photo Identification Project .......................................................................................... 10 Other Areas ............................................................................................................................ 10 Other Wildlife ........................................................................................................................... 10 General Observations ............................................................................................................ 10 Hunting and Trapping ............................................................................................................... 13 Brown Bear ............................................................................................................................ 13 Other Species ......................................................................................................................... 13 Fisheries ........................................................................................................................................ 16 Commercial Fisheries ................................................................................................................ 16 McNeil River Drainage ......................................................................................................... 16 Mikfik Creek-Lake System ................................................................................................... 19 Chenik Creek-Lake System ................................................................................................... 19 Sport Fishing ............................................................................................................................. 19 McNeil Lagoon ...................................................................................................................... 20 Kamishak River ..................................................................................................................... 20 Fisheries Enhancement .............................................................................................................. 20 Paint River Fish Ladder ......................................................................................................... 20 Public Use and Land Management ............................................................................................... 21 McNeil River Falls-Mikfik Creek ............................................................................................. 21 Kamishak River ......................................................................................................................... 24 Chenik Area ............................................................................................................................... 24 Bear-Human Conflicts ............................................................................................................... 25 Land Use Permitting .................................................................................................................. 25 Fish and Wildlife Research ........................................................................................................... 25 Mikfik Creek Video Research ................................................................................................... 26 McNeil River Brown Bear and Chum Salmon Research .......................................................... 27 Sanctuary Administration and Management ................................................................................. 28 Staffing ...................................................................................................................................... 28 Volunteers.............................................................................................................................. 28 Facilities .................................................................................................................................... 28 Acknowledgments......................................................................................................................... 30 References Cited ........................................................................................................................... 30 Special Areas Management Report ADF&G/DWC/SAMR-2017-3 i List of Figures Figure 1. Location of the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary and McNeil River State Game Refuge in Southwest Alaska. .......................................................................................................... 1 Figure 2. Historic index counts (annual mean of 7 highest systematic daily counts) brown bears at McNeil River falls, McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, Alaska, 1993–2014 (α = 0.01). ....... 6 Figure 3. Annual brown bear numbers, bear use days, and index counts compared to bear composition, McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, Alaska, 1976–2014. ...................................... 8 Figure 4. U.S. Forest Service and Alaska Department of Natural Resources mapping of alder defoliation within McNeil River State Game Sanctuary and McNeil River State Game Refuge, Alaska. .........................................................................................................................................